Off-campus supervision eyed after attack

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 -- Anonymous (not verified)

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Local Coverage

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

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Jack Encarnacao

Lawmakers horrified by details emerging of last week’s brutal attack at a Somerville-sponsored soccer camp in the Berkshires, where authorities say a boy was sexually assaulted with a broomstick, say the incident demands a new look at how school districts supervise students at off-campus events.

“Given the situation that currently presents itself, it certainly bears looking into as to whether schools are able to maintain the same kind of control and supervision on site as they do off site,” said Rep. Alice Hanlon Peisch (D-Wellesley), co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s Education Committee, who co-sponsored the 2010 bill that required districts to report bullying and hazing and create policies to prevent them. “When the committee returns, I wouldn’t be surprised if we take a look at it.”

Rep. Alan Silvia (D-Fall River), a member of the Public Safety Committee, said he wants to ensure closer supervision.

“I don’t know if there’s any bill before us that addresses this, but there should be,” Silvia said. “Parents think they’re going off and they’re safe and they’re with the school, only to learn that no one was present, or at least no one was present at the time. We need to look closely at this.”

State Rep. Geoff Diehl (R-Whitman), a Ways and Means Committee member and a father of two, said the situation calls for “more uniformity” in how school districts conduct overnight trips.

“For me what’s frustrating to think is that there’s a parent that should have been more vigilant, or wasn’t doing what they were supposed to do,” Diehl said.

Somerville school administrators have said there were 19 adults assigned to the camp and adults in every cabin overnight. School officials said the incident took place on Sunday, Aug. 25, but wasn’t reported to the athletic department until Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Peisch said she is not aware of any state rules that govern supervision and control of students off-premises, and that it is left up to local districts.

“But from time to time, as happened with the bullying legislation, absent some state regulation, there are not adequate policies across the board,” Peisch said.

Rep. Brian M. Ashe (D-Longmeadow), a Public Safety Committee member, called for a discussion on hazing.

“Something needs to be done,” he said. “Sometimes kids get out of hand. I don’t know if it’s a group mentality or what they’re thinking when things go too far. It’s unfortunate.”

In Andover, where in 2011 two students were expelled and five players were kicked off the basketball team after a hazing ritual in which boys were forced to ingest bodily fluids at a summer camp at Stonehill College, the schools put an end to off-site athletic camps, Andover School Committee chairman Dennis Forgue said.

“It made much more sense to do these kinds of camps here on our campus,” Forgue said.